


Blame it on the Pain

by Sincerely_Sierra



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: (Sort of) Humor, Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Humor, Ice Cream, Love Confessions, Wisdom Teeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 17:26:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17207741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sincerely_Sierra/pseuds/Sincerely_Sierra
Summary: The day after having her wisdom teeth removed, Madison becomes increasingly clingy with Zoe until Zoe's had enough.*This is an add-on to my previous fic, "Blame it on the Laughing Gas". It can also be read as a stand-alone.*





	Blame it on the Pain

**Author's Note:**

> My previous fic "Blame it on the Laughing Gas" was a success and I truly love toying around with this idea, so I added more. This is a bit heavier than funny, but it's still pretty amusing for your soul. It's safe to read this as a stand-alone. 
> 
> Thanks for all the kudos on my previous one! You motivated me to create this long story. This is not proofread just because it's late and it's so long (and I'm trying to hurry up and rewatch Freak Show again). Enjoy!   
> \--Sincerely, Sierra

God, this sucks. Not long after having all four of her wisdom teeth forcibly ripped from her mouth all at once, Madison's painkillers wear off and she's left with stabbing, searing pain in the open sockets. Of course, she has a few more pills left to last her for another day or so, but she's trying to stretch them out as long as she can. She took half the bottle in one day and the fuckers don't work well.

When Madison is ill or in pain, the only thing in this entire world that comforts her is Zoe. She has to be near her at all times or she goes a little crazy and starts to whine for her. Therefore, Zoe has been trapped in their bedroom, hopping back and forth between retrieving ice cream to spoon feed to Madison and injecting her mouth with a salt water mixture inside a plastic syringe as per dentist's recommendation.

"Zoeee!" Madison whines for the tenth time today. "My mouth is hurting!"

Sighing, Zoe emerges from the bathroom and sits on the edge of Madison's bed--that she's been reluctantly sleeping in to keep Madison quiet. Madison pouts and crosses her arms.

"I just gave you another pill. There's nothing I can do about it now," Zoe says as she brushes a lock of blonde hair from Madison's face.

"Can I have some more ice cream?" Madison asks, more in a whine than anything else.

"God, you're such a baby."

Regardless of that, Zoe goes fully whipped and stomps to the kitchen, making sure to make a big show of her distaste for being treated as a servant to the starlet because of her temporary disability. She grabs the carton of chocolate ice cream and finds it to only have a few spoonfuls left. Knowing it's not enough for Madison, she puts it back in the freezer and goes upstairs, where Madison is patiently waiting.

"Where's the ice cream?" Madison asks.

"There's barely any," Zoe says. "I'll need to go to the store and pick some up. I'll be back in ten minutes."

As she turns to leave, Madison grabs her hand and pulls her close to her. Startled, Zoe looks at the shaking girl, whose eyes are as wide as saucers, and Zoe swears she can see a glimmer of tears coating them. It's almost heartbreaking. She's like a sad, lonely, lost puppy in the woods that follows the first person it sees home.

"Don't go. Stay here with me," Madison practically begs.

"But I need to go get your ice cream. It won't take long," Zoe promises, shrugging her hand away and moving to the door.

"Send Cordelia! She won't mind," Madison says.

"She can't. She's busy with paperwork. I will be back."

Zoe leaves no room for arguing. Instead she moves along before Madison can give her anymore useless pleas. She grabs Cordelia's keys from their designated hook and goes out to the car. Really, she's just happy to get away from Madison. For the past day it's been nothing but whining and clinginess from the former actress. It's a wonder she can even speak at all with four wounds in her mouth. Sometimes Zoe wishes they were deeper.

There's a grocery store not far from the Academy. They have the best selection of ice cream Zoe knows, and she enters with a tired smile. Madison prefers Breyer's chocolate more than anything, but Zoe is tempted to buy her Blue Bell, just to spite her. She secretly hopes they're out of Breyer's so she has an excuse to not get it. Unfortunately, they are well stocked with it. With a grumble, she grabs two cartons from the freezer and heads to checkout.

The store is small and independent and has no self-checkout like the big chains, so Zoe has to wait in the only express lane behind four other people who easily have about 10 items each. By the time the second person is being ringed up, Zoe has been in line for five minutes and she rolls her eyes. So much for an express lane.

The third person puts their stuff on the belt, and Zoe's hand begins to freeze with the ice cream she's been patiently holding. Her phone rings and she pulls it from her pocket. Madison. Jesus Christ, this girl can't leave her alone for ten minutes without calling her?

Going soft for a moment out of worry and her instinct to nurture, Zoe answers. "Yes, Madison?"

"Where are you? You said ten minutes!" Madison says, though her voice is muffled, like she actually bothered to put her gauze pads back into her mouth.

"I'm in line. I'll be back soon. Just hold tight and try to take a nap. And stop whining like a baby," Zoe snaps.

Madison huffs once and hangs up. Zoe sighs and puts the two cartons of ice cream on the belt and pays cash in the exact amount so she doesn't have to deal with the whole change and extra encounter with the miserable cashier thing. She grabs her bag of ice cream and leaves without so much as a thank you.

The ride back to the Academy is somber. Zoe appreciates the stillness that comes with not having Madison around, but it's short-lived. Inside the Academy, Madison is still waiting in bed, not having listened to Zoe and not taken the nap Zoe wishes she would have so she could easily smother her.

Okay, maybe that's a little extreme, but that's how Zoe feels and she's allowed to feel that way when she's been slaving over this girl for over a day.

"Here's your ice cream and your spoon. Go for it," Zoe says in a quick breath after she's put the second carton away and tossed the other one into Madison's lap.

"Can you feed me?" Madison asks. "The pills make me shake."

"Madison, you are capable of feeding yourself. This is the last time you're having ice cream today. I'll make you some soup for dinner and that's it," Zoe says, hands on her hips.

"Please, Zoe? What if the spoon falls and I get all dirty? Then you'll have to give me a bath."

Absolutely repulsive. That's what this girl is. To suggest that Zoe will give her a bath is disturbing. She's not willing to give anyone a bath, especially Madison. Maybe the blonde is only messing with her or trying to see what she'll say in response to that, but it's equally unsettling either way.

"Zoe? Please?" Madison grouses, fluttering her eyelashes at Zoe.

"Oh, fine. Just shut up for a little while after I do this," Zoe rages as she plops down in front of Madison and pops open the carton.

The chocolate smell is so strong that it burns Zoe's nose but makes her stomach grumble all at once. She spoons a scoop into Madison's mouth as if she's feeding a toddler.

"Zoe! Don't make me open my mouth too wide!" Madison says. "I'm sore."

Oh, the irony.

Zoe allows Madison to eat only six spoonfuls before she closes the carton. Pouting like a petulant child, Madison tries to grab it from Zoe.

"No more. You've had enough for one day."

"Please?"

"No."

Firm in her decision, Zoe gathers the carton and spoon and takes them downstairs to stash until Madison is worthy of more. For now she looks in their pantry to find some canned soup to give Madison for dinner. And she refuses to feed it to her this time.

+++

Madison finally succumbs to her painkillers and takes a long nap. It's like having a baby around. Zoe works and works to keep her quiet and is immensely relieved when the girl goes down for a nap. The clinginess is terrible, like a child to her mother. At this rate, Zoe is surprised Madison hasn't asked to be breastfed by her, because she's a real titty baby about it.

Maybe Zoe is being too harsh. Madison must be in a lot of pain, but she's taking it too far. She made Zoe read her a story earlier. A fucking children's story, about the dumb girl in the woods who meets a wolf and is fooled by him. Madison giggled the entire way through like a psychopath until she got woozy and fell asleep curled around Zoe's body.

Queenie and Cordelia are arguing about something about the warlocks. Nothing serious, but they're being too loud and may wake Madison if it reaches the paper thin ceiling that is Madison's floor.

"Hey! Hush! Madison is asleep and if you wake her up, she won't leave me alone," Zoe hisses at them, returning to the book she has hooked in her fingers.

Cordelia sighs and apologizes to Zoe, then escorts Queenie into her office to finish off their little banter in private. Zoe continues flipping through the book, quite uninterested by it. It's only something to pass the time until she's called for yet again.

Except she's not called. She actually gets over an hour of freedom to do whatever she wants. Then, ten minutes till six, as she's about to prepare Madison's dinner, she hears whimpering from upstairs. Unlike the intentionally annoying whining Madison's been doing, this is a real cry. Something tugs in Zoe's chest and she abandons her book on the sofa, rushing up to the bedroom.

Madison is still in bed, presumably asleep, but she's, without a doubt, crying. Zoe's at her side in a flash, attempting find some sort of injury or wound, but she finds nothing but flawless milky skin. She frowns.

"Madison?" she asks, gently shaking the smaller girl awake.

Madison moans and whimpers as her wet eyes flutter open at the gentle sound of Zoe's voice. Her hand flies to her jaw and lingers there, stabbing pain cutting its way through her wounds.

"Your mouth?" Zoe asks. She nods. "You only have three pills left, Maddie. I don't want to give you any more. I'll go get you some liquid Motrin. Stay right here."

Turning to go to the bathroom and retrieve the Motrin from the cabinet, Zoe abandons Madison, but her wrist is quickly yanked back and she stumbles.

"Madison, stop it," Zoe gently scolds. "It's right there."

Without giving the crying girl much of a choice, Zoe wanders off in search for the Motrin. The cabinet is stocked with aspirin and band aids and allergy medications galore. Eyes scanning for the orange bottle, Zoe riffles through everything, knocking bottles over in her wake. To be honest, she's really not comfortable with leaving Madison alone when she's in pain. Curse her instincts.

The Motrin is old but not expired. It's a bitch to twist the cap off and there's no measuring cup. And it might not help very much, but it's worth a good try. Guess she'll have to make do.

"Here," Zoe says as she returns from the bathroom. "You'll have to drink it from the bottle."

Reluctant, Madison scoots away. She fucking hates Motrin. It's too sweet and feel like it rots her teeth from one dose.

"Madison, stop being so damn difficult. Here." Zoe puts it to her lips and forces her to take a thick sip of it. "There, that's it."

She caps the bottle and puts it on the nightstand. Rubbing her tired eyes, Madison lies back down and pulls the covers over herself. It's now that Zoe realizes she's trembling.

"Are you cold?" Zoe hesitates by the door, preparing to leave.

Madison nods and lifts her blanket, patting the empty pace beside herself. This is ridiculous, Zoe thinks. It's bad enough that Cordelia caught her spooning Madison in bed yesterday, does she really want some talk spreading?

She tries not to dwell on it too much. She has a tendency to do that. So she closes the door and clambers into the very small bed next to the shivering blonde, who immediately locks her arms around Zoe's waist, bringing her closer.

In minutes, Madison nods off in Zoe's arms. Keeping her position locked around the older girl, Zoe reaches for her phone and scrolls through her apps and such. She's not like Madison. She doesn't have social media or anything interesting, but her gallery is bursting. She's in love with snapping candids of the coven at the right moment. Like her most recent: Madison climbing up on the fridge to steal the cupcake Cordelia had hidden from her earlier in the day.

Zoe smiles at the fond memory, although it was only four days ago. Madison still isn't aware she was caught red handed. She chuckles a bit, enough for her chest to heave, and Madison stirs but eventually settles down against Zoe's breast.

She puts her phone away and holds Madison tighter. Again, she curses herself. Why is she doing so much for this witch? Sometimes Zoe wonders if it's her instincts or the fact that she enjoys Madison's warmth. It's sickening.

Either way, that thought has to wait, because Zoe is already long gone next to Madison, breath tickling her ear.

+++

"Zoe! I need my salt water!" Madison screeches from upstairs.

With a frustrated sigh, Zoe shakes the salt water solution in a bottle like formula for a baby, which is how she sees it right about now. She brings some forth into the syringe and takes it to their room where Madison is waiting and tapping her fingers.

"Hold still," Zoe says as she eases the syringe into Madison's mouth.

It's gaudy and gross, the way the syringe looks when Zoe retracts it. Slightly bloody and coated with saliva. Madison swishes the mixture around in her mouth and Zoe puts a cup to her lips.

"Spit."

Madison spits it out. Zoe looks at the clock above the bed and sighs. It's past nine pm and Madison refuses to go to sleep, claiming her mouth is hurting too much to lay still. As pitiful as it is, Zoe just wants some silent sleep tonight, but that might be impossible considering they just woke up from a two-hour nap.

"I'm gonna go downstairs and get a snack," Zoe says, leaving Madison's side for the first time in hours. "Want something? You just can't have anything with small pieces and you can't suck through a straw."

"Mmm, no. My jaw hurts. Stay with me."

Rolling her eyes, Zoe goes to leave anyway, but she stops herself and looks towards Madison, who's looking like a lost puppy again.

"Come on, Madison. What's the real reason you're always whining for me? I know you don't need me that much," Zoe says.

"I need help! And you're the only one that cares. . ." Oh god, here comes the woe-is-me shit.

"You're really milking this for all it's worth and it's annoying," Zoe sighs.

"Hey, Cordelia made me get my teeth removed! I didn't want to! Ow!" Madison moans, holding her jaw, before daring to look Zoe in the eye. "Nobody else was gonna take care of me. You know I'm stubborn."

"Yeah, I know. But you're taking it way too far. You're clinging to me all the time." Zoe sits back on the bed. She might be here awhile.

"Goddamnit, don't you get it? You really are blind! I'm clinging to you because I feel safe with you and I fucking love you!" The revelation leaves her lips like poison and salt fused together, bitter and tart and no way to go back.

"Wait, what?" Zoe blinks, shaking her head. No, this isn't possible. Madison Montgomery doesn't love Zoe Benson. It's just not possible.

"I fucking love you, you dense moron! And I want you to take care of me!"

Neither say anything after that. Madison curls into herself and waits for a response--or a sharp slap to her cheek. Telling someone she loves them has not worked out well for her in the past. Zoe blows out a breath of air. Her face is red hot and she's sure her intestines are all twisted up.

"Maddie, why didn't you tell me before?" Zoe asks.

 _Maddie_. So she's not angry with her.

"Because it's unlikely! I'm a bitch and you're a fucking angel! You wouldn't want me!" Madison is nearly crying out of humiliation.

Scooting closer to the blonde, Zoe rests her hand on her back and moves her hair from her face so she can see her eyes. They're beautiful and deep green, like the spring trees.

"You know what? I think I love you," Zoe admits into her ear.

 _Love_. That's what she was feeling and it was killing her. Maybe she wanted to hate caring for Madison so she could find a way to bury her real feelings.

"Really?" Madison sniffles. "I don't believe you."

Zoe smiles and carefully kisses her salty lips. The other witch's lips are soft but chapped in places.

"There. I kissed you. Now you can stop asking," Zoe laughs, cheeks hot with emotion and frustration.

"I never asked." Madison's eyebrows knit together.

"You did all day yesterday when you were high."

Madison groans and hides her face. With a soft giggle, Zoe grabs her and brings her down on the bed with her, allowing her to wind herself into a ball. The two lay there, snacks and dinner all forgotten. The room is warm and still, like the chilly night outside.

"My mouth hurts so much right now," Madison mumbles into Zoe's chest.

"Then close it, babe," Zoe replies, giving her a kiss on her head.

The revelation must've exhausted Madison, because she falls right to sleep locked in the comfort of Zoe's embrace. Once again, Zoe follows her, nose buried into the mess of blonde hair below herself.

"Goodnight," Zoe whispers as her eyes flutter closed. "I love you."

+++

Cordelia hasn't heard from either witch in hours. It's late and she's on her way to bed herself, but she stops at the roommates' door and contemplates knocking. She doesn't hear anything from inside, so she lightly knocks with a single knuckle.

"Girls?" she softly calls. "Are you awake?"

Nothing.

A little more than worried, Cordelia carefully opens the door and tries to clear the shadows for herself so she can better see. There lie Zoe and Madison, intertwined in the sheets, thankfully, clothed. They're fast asleep like the angels Cordelia wishes they always were, hands in each other's and mouths an inch apart.

"Cordelia?" Queenie suddenly asks as she approaches the woman.

"Shh. Look," Cordelia whispers and points to the two slim figures connected on the bed.

"Aw," Queenie quietly gushes before smacking Cordelia in the arm. "Told ya. You owe me thirty bucks."

"Goddamnit," Cordelia mutters before fishing out three ten-dollar bills from her pocket and handing them over to her fellow council member.

"I'm just happy Madison finally found someone who tolerates her," Queenie whispers. "Thirty bucks says Zoe will have had enough in a month."

Cordelia redirects her gaze to Zoe, who's now grasping Madison even tighter in her peaceful sleep.

The older woman turns to Queenie and smiles before she says, "You may as well pay me now. But you're on."


End file.
